The Rules
by VioletWinston
Summary: Living in Castle Rock can teach you a few things. And if you're like Violet Tessio, you definitely don't learn things easily. So, to keep track of things, Violet keeps a journal of things you should remember if you live in Castle Rock. She also keeps the big story of how she learned all of these things- the journey to find the body of Ray Brower, of course!
1. Chapter 1

**Reviews are appreciated!**

My twin brother Vern and I sat underneath our porch digging for a quart jar of pennies he buried. We have been digging for them for nine months, and I was about ready to call it quits.

"I'm telling ya, Vern, Billy beat ya to 'em!" Billy was our older brother, who was in a deadly gang called the cobras. Vern and I nearly felt that Billy hated us, which he probably did, but I still had a little hope that he loved us. But I don't know what Vern thought about it for that matter.

"Just dig faster, Violet!" Vern sighed.

"Keep tellin yourself that, Vern, but I'm pretty sure this is my third time digging in this spot!"

"Well maybe if you weren't so sloppy, you wouldn't have to do that!" Vern yelled. Two can play at that game, bud.

"Well maybe if _you_ kept the map in the tree house, you wouldn't have lost it!" I shouted back.

"Well maybe if _you _cleaned our room when you were supposed to, mom wouldn't have to!"

"I don't even know why the fuck I'm helping you, Vern!" I snapped. I was really getting irritated. "I mean, the jar's not that small!" I shouted, gesturing to how close together the holes were. "We don't have to fuckin dig the holes so _fuckin close _together!"

Vern was just about to answer me with a smartass comment, until we heard our screen door slam shut and the sound of two familiar voices, our brother, Billy, and his right-hand man, Charlie Hogan.

**Rule Number 1: Never let Billy catch you eavesdropping. **

Vern and I knew better than to say anything else. Last time Billy caught us eavesdropping, he whipped our thighs so bad that we could barely walk for a week.

"Jesus Christ, Billy, we gotta do something!" Charlie Hogan exclaimed.

"Why? Who cares?" Billy snapped. Well obviously Charlie does, you fuckin cock-knocker.

"We saw him!"

"So? He ain't nothin to us, and the kid's dead, so we ain't nothing to him neither. I mean, who gives a shit if they ever find him, I don't!" Wait, dead kid? Did Billy kill someone?

"But it was that kid they were talking about on the radio! Brocker, or Brower, or Flowers, whatever the kid's name was? The train must've hit him." Charlie said with a little concern in his voice.

"Big fuckin' deal,"

"I think we should tell the cops."

"You don't go squackin' to the cops after ya' boosted a car, ya' idiot. They gonna wanna know how the hell we got way out on Back Harlow Road. Now they know we don't got no car. Its best we just keep our mouths shut, then they can't touch us."

"We can make an anonymous call." Charlie suggested, being his stubborn self.

"They trace those calls, stupid. I seen it on Highway Patrol and on Dragnet."

"Right," Charlie stated, "I just wish we never boosted that goddamn Dodge! I wish Ace had been with us, we coulda told the cops we was in his car."

"Well he wasn't!" Billy snapped. He was really short-tempered; every little thing set him off.

"We gonna tell em'?" Charlie asked. It was getting more and more harder to hear them, since they were walking down the road, probably towards Ace's house.

"We ain't gonna tell nobody, nobody never, you dig me?"

I don't know why, but somehow I knew that Vern and I were thinking the same thing. It must be twin telepathy or some shit like that. Wait till the guys hear this!


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Stand By Me, I only own Violet.**

As soon as we were sure that Billy and Charlie were nowhere in sight, we hauled ass to the tree house, the only place where me, Chris, Vern, Teddy, and Gordie could get away from our parents, siblings, or whatever else bothered us at home. The tree house was a place where we wouldn't be judged or abused, or shunned or ignored. We could be ourselves and actually be accepted.

When we got to the tree house, Vern attempted to do our secret know, and failed as he usually does. I slightly nudged him out of the way and reached my arm towards the trapdoor. I climbed a step higher and knocked our secret knock. _*knock* *knock* -pause- *knock* -pause- *knock* *knock* *knock* _I wasn't the most badass secret knock, but hey, it made do. It was easy to remember and wasn't something anyone would come up with at the top of their heads.

"That's not the secret knock!" Gordie shouted from inside. What the hell? Of course it is! I went over the secret knock a few more times in my head, remembering the sequence and the order of thuds and bumps and raps.

"Neither of you dipshits got it right! Eee-ee-ee!" Teddy called, laughing his signature laugh. It literally sounded like a cross between a hyena and an eight year old girl being murdered. Definitely not something you would expect to come from Teddy, or anyone for that matter.

"Should we let 'em in?" Chris pondered. I sighed to myself and Vern sneered.

**Rule Number Two: Never forget the secret knock.**

"You cock-knockers better!" Ain't no way I was gonna be out in this heat for a minute longer. I was sweatin' like a whore in church. I positioned my right leg on the next step above me and began pushing on the trapdoor with both hands. It took quite a while, but I soon heard the card table that kept the door in place fall over, spilling the cards Chris and Teddy were gambling with all over the floor of the tree house. I climbed in slowly, scoping my surroundings, and Vern followed suit. Along with the old, bent Bicycle cards, several cigarettes were also scattered along the floor of the tree house. Some had even fallen down into the muddy grass below. You see, instead of betting money, we liked to use cigarettes, for two reasons: they were easy to get our hands on, and we were all hooked on them.

I laughed loudly at the sight of a fumed Chris and Teddy bending over and picking up the cards and cigarettes. "You boys better know how to play fifty-two pickup!" Gordie and Vern roared in laughter with me, but Teddy scowled and Chris rolled his eyes. "Aye, don't be a little bitch about it!" I could hardly say that with a straight face before I burst into fiddles of chuckles again. I sat on the couch next to Gordie, and Vern sat on a stack old palettes we dragged in only a few weeks ago. Once we were all settled and the cards were picked up, I spoke up. "Alright, besides Gordie, how many of you have seen a _real _dead body? Not like at a funeral or anything, but a body that hasn't been embalmed or any of that shit yet. Like with the blood and everything still all over 'em? And not nobody who had a heart attack or anything, either. Someone who was legit _killed._"

The boys shook their heads slowly; they had no idea where I was going with this, only Vern knew. "Well how would you like to see one?" Chris's eyes widened, Teddy raised both of his eyebrows, and Gordie set his detective magazine down, leaning towards me. Vern started to enlighten the boys a bit, telling them how we knew the body was there, and who's body it was. We knew they would know who Ray Brower was; we all followed the story very closely because he was a kid our age. A few days before, he had gone out to pick blueberries, and no one has seen him since. Well, besides Billy and Charlie Hogan.

The idea of going to find Ray Brower's body excited me, but scared me at the same time. It would be pretty eerie to see his body all mangled up from the train hitting him. I didn't know him too well; he lived a few towns away. But I have seen him at the Castle Rock bakery a couple times; his mother insisted that the bakery held the God of Pumpkin Pie. Honestly, though, I didn't even find it that amazing. Any-who, Ray and I have made small-talk before; he seemed like a pretty cool kid,

We all settled on a fool-proof plan. Vern would tell 'ma that he was sleeping at Teddy's, I would say I was going to my friend Halley's house. Chris, Teddy, and Gordie would say that we were all camping out in Vern's back field. "Are you sure you wanna come, Violet? I mean, I know you knew Ray Brower, and it would be kinda weird to, ya know, see him like that…" Gordie said, "'Cause I can get my parents to look after you. They know your situation, and honestly, I think they like you more than they like me."

I shook my head. "I'll be fine, guys." I reassured them, although I had a really bad feeling about this trip.

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